Wednesday, August 15, 2012

toolz @ the manor

kymber here first to let you all know that our internet has been on the blink for the past several days - seems to be tip-tidy now tho! i will hit up all of your blogs and catch up on all of your posts during this evening and tomorrow! i hope that all of you are well. anyway - here' jambaloney:

jambaloney here!

sorry to have been off the blog for so long, but we have been going full tilt here, plus we added frankie blue eyes and i had the trip to ottawa... man, it is the middle of august ALREADY!!! ...this is a post i started almost a month ago - better late than never ;-)) ?? mostly about hand tools, with a nod to gorges grouse ;-))

so as i was digging the trench, i found that after a while, the tools get slippery as the handles get covered with mud and water - no matter, i bought some hockey tape a while back just for this problem....

i had found an old sledgehammer head in the basement when we moved in, i bought a handle for it recently which was a good thing because i needed it to smash rocks as the trench got deeper. i taped the handles of the pick and sledge - NICE!!

i use that pick all the time - and eventually, this happened.....

yep, broke the handle and nearly rattled all my teeth loose in the process. hit a large rock hidden by clay square on. it's the kind of thing that is bound to happen. fortunately, the pick was here when i arrived to, it was old as well. the first handle was cracked... i taped it, but it broke and i replaced it with the hickory handle you see above. that handles lasted about a year. the head is old enough to be worth something. i find the alloys used in today's tools are crappy, you can tell by looking at the metal after it breaks. i broke this fork while building the huggie culture, notice the way it snapped, NOT fine steel.

here is a crappy pick buddy left ... steel snapped, not the handle (i can barely call it steel, more like a cast iron alloy of a sort), it is useful as a lightweight pick now that the weight is cut down ;-))

here is a third next to the other two on the right - a maddock that i busted clearing ice last winter. the steel in these is crap..

however the following tools are mint, on the top is a trench tool that my step-dad ted gave me, on the bottom is a wide pronged fork that came from my grandmother - each prong can be individually removed... no garbage cast metal here!

back to the broken pickaxe, i could only get a handle with a plastic flare on it, still, it should do the trick.

50 comments:

they don't make em like they used to! I have broken a couple of mauls and I almost broke my own pick last night when I was digging out more walkway..luckily the rock gave instead of my pick..but the stone shards went everywhere..and after that I was digging out the trech with a pickaxe type thing and did not notice a bunch of dirt stuck on the digging end, until I hoisted it up above my head to clear out more...and the stuck dirt dislodged onto my head!..dirty work!

..tape helps but so do nice heavy workgloves..I always have a pair on these days..and we have about 60 pair kicking around the homestead

i was using the tape to keep the tools form flying - my favorite workgloves are calf leather which get slippy in the rain i have seen vintage axeheads and whatnot on ebay, but shipping makes them real expensive!!

it is dirty work - if you plan on doing a lot of trenching, order that trenching tool:

i hear you - with hand tools the real problem is the casting and alloys... the good old USA used to make dynamite steel, you can find vintage stuff on e-bay - if it is near you, you might get a good deal!

I have to agree with Craig, when you have or find old tools grab them up or fix them up and keep using them. Tools are made now to be thrown away and thats such a shame. And.....um stop working so darn hard, bahahahah......I see Winston is on full alert :-) it that because he's managing or gaurding his home?

Hey Guys - Oh yeah - the old handle breaks... aren't we all too familiar with the crap that's sold these days. The part that gets me is when the tag on a new handle says - high quality steel built to last.

It should read - poor quality shit not made to last so buy twelve before even thinking about putting them to work !

Hi Lotta Joy ! It was sure nice of your daughter to have gotten you tools like that. That tells a lot about what a fine person she is and how much she loves you ! I laughed at the wasbund word - you are really, really are a hoot ! You could easily be a comedian too - your talent is endless dear lady ! :))

Last time I broke a handle, I sprayed hydraulic fluid everywhere, LMHO. You need to crawl out of that ditch before everyone here starts wondering just what it is you do there. We all know it is NOT just digging.

I'd never heard it called "hockey tape", but grew up calling it "friction tape." I googled the former term and learned that it comes in some right-pretty colors, as opposed to friction tape's basic black.

Jamby - MMMMM Trout. One method I have done for removing the handles from inside the tools with the solid metal tops or even the open ones is to burn them out in the wood stove. If I do it after closing the vents it doesn't get hot enough to effect the temper at least on the good old time tools anyway.

During my extreme kindness to my wasbund during our divorce, I allowed him to spend the day gathering his stuff from the house, the garage and our shed. Later I realized he had cleaned out ALL the tools of my dad's. OLD tools that had a life, and many lives left in them. I was desolate AND tooless.

That Christmas, I opened the largest box I've ever seen. It was from my daughter. She had gone to Sears and spent a fortune, but inside that box was a replaced set of tools, skill saw, sawsall, and a tool box. For ME.

I have no new tools. All mine were bought at yard sales. Of course, they could still be trash, but at least I paid $2 rather than upwards of $30. Well, the last new shovel I bought was in 1975. I have so many tool heads that need a handle!

Over the years, I've bought lots of old tools at estate sales. Not only is the metal better, but the handles that came in them are better than those that can be bought in big box stores these days. I've got them all repaired now but the next time I break a handle, I'm going to have to source some nice slow growth hickory handles instead of whatever they are made from these days for the big box stores. The metal goes without saying, will no doubt last my lifetime and perhaps my children's as well.

i got a bunch of old tools form my grandads and a lot garbage picking as well - NOTHING beats old steel!

i agree that handles these days aren't the best - no hickory here. i am thinking of getting a draw knife and giving the birch and/or tamarack a shot at being handle material - if that works, i will be delighted to be able to make handles of custom length and shape - do you know if those woods are good?

i got a bunch of old tools form my grandads and a lot garbage picking as well - NOTHING beats old steel!

i agree that handles these days aren't the best - no hickory here. i am thinking of getting a draw knife and giving the birch and/or tamarack a shot at being handle material - if that works, i will be delighted to be able to make handles of custom length and shape - do you know if those woods are good?

Found your blog. It is full of really good information. Thank you for sharing. If you ever need service on air conditioning repair please visit us at rheemteamcomfort.com. We would love it if you would have a look at some of our blogs and let us know your thoughts.

About Framboise Manor

Framboise Manor is our Bug-Out Location (BOL) that we have been living in since December 2010. As can be seen by the above picture - calling it simply a "Manor" doesn't do it justice - we bet you think it is more like an "Estate", eh?

Check out our Recipe Blog!

Search This Blog

CONTACT US

Who Are We?

we are jambaloney and kymber. here's a pic of us below...we look very happy and content. it's because we really are!

About jambaloney

(he's only 23 in this pic...he has 20+years of additional muscle now...if you can believe it!)

kymber here and talking about jambaloney.

i've always called him my angel. my rock. my best half. the best part of what i have always wanted to become.

he has a soul as big as the biggest mountain, he is strong, he is in incredible physical condition, he is 51 and yet most people think he is under 40. he is humble and modest, charming, gorgeous and will help anyone with anything at anytime. he never grumbles and only every now and again complains or is a tiny bit cranky (nothing that a hug can't fix!). he can cut both sides out of 70 tires in minutes, build raised beds from scrap wood that he drags out of the forest, weedwhack 800ft of our road down to the river, and haul more wheelbarrows of dirt, mulch, rocks and seaweed than is probably medically-advised. he's learned how to braid, make bread and no one makes better rice - not even the chinese. he supports my every, crazy endevour. he went 44 years without a driver's license and got his license after being trained by my crazily-wonderful french canadian friend in 2 weeks. she never stopped talking the whole time. in french.

he has biked everywhere his entire life, at one job he biked 24km EACH WAY. that's to and from! 24km to work AND 24km from work! oh and just accidentally has an honours degree in philosophy.

i believe that he is Our Lord's most beautiful and perfect creation. but i might be biased. he can very accurately shoot a ben pearson cougar re-curve from both the left and right. and his aim is dead on.

he is bow-legged and only 5'7", but has the most incredible eyes. and a tiny mole on his upper lip. he writes the most romantic "insta-poems". he tells me he loves me several times a day. he calls me "babe" and "honey". and he means it.he loves hot sauce and spicey things like cayenne and banana peppers, he buys (or now picks) me flowers, he left a lucrative, high-paying IT job and his family to follow me here to this remote little island. he builds me shelves and washes all of our laundry with me by hand.

oh and he was baptized Anglican. and was an alter boy. sheesh. somehow, through my intervention, i am turning him into a pagan-christian-fundamentalist-confuscian. look, even i can't figure that out!

the name jambaloney is a nickname that i gave him over 10 years ago. he still uses it. he can be reached at "jambaloney@gmail.com". he loves comments or emails. and he loves me.

if i were given the opportunity to wish one thing for the world - i would wish that every woman on the planet had a jambaloney. i know that i could save the world this way. i have friends who have asked me to clone him. i am trying. believe me, i am trying. one day i will perfect the science involved, and when that happens, i promise all of you a jambaloney.

i love him more than...breathing, lobster, boiled dinner, fresh bread out of the oven, bugging out, singing back up for Madonna (ok...i made that one up!), fresh sheets on the bed, a glass of red wine after a long day, sunflower seeds, lavender, growing my own potatoes, T.S. Eliot, dancing, my babies (who are really just cranky old cats!) and the Bible.

i love him more than i love Framboise Manor. and i really love Framboise Manor.

About kymber

(this pic might seem odd. trust me, it's not. 20 yrs ago kymber went shopping with a girlfriend from the military and bought this dress. then she hooked up with that girlfriend recently. they caught up through email and one day kymberz friend mentioned that specific dress. kymber said she still had it (kymber still has her prom gown for crying out loud!). the friend did not believe it. so we had to take a pic of kymber wearing the 20yr old dress for her friend. kymber always likes to add accessories...and well, we had the bunny ears laying around. ya know, cuz everyone always has pink bunny ears laying around. ok, that's it...i am out of here! jambaloney)

what can i say about kymber?? A LOT!!most of it will have to wait for blog entries ‘cuz i just don’t have enough space here to do her justice…

so i’ll have to do my best… first and foremost, kymber is my partner and i will love her forever. she is the best partner anyone could ever have, i am one lucky guy!! she is 46, she is sweet as can be, smart as a whip, super cute, exceptionally feminine, strong as an ox, honest, kind, empathetic, wise, an amazing dancer, a master wit in speaking and writing….i could go on..i will!

at 5’ 1’’ she packs a wallop – a true force of nature -she is a master gardener and chef and spent 10 years in the Canadian Military – she has done 2 tours of Alert (the north bloody-cold pole). she is a UN-certified Korean linguist and spoils our 2 cats rotten. she also spent 12yrs working in the federal government, as a communications analyst at SolGen (now PSEPC) and Fintrac. she loves nature in the true sense of the phrase..the wildflowers, insects and birds here at framboise manor keep her entranced and captivated for hours.

anyone who is her friend knows that she will stop at nothing to help and heal, dedication and loyalty are an integral part of who she is and she is dead serious about anything she puts her mind to. yet she maintains the most delicate touch and a smile on her face always, never afraid to live and love no matter where and when.

she is the most genuine human being i have ever met! and she has encouraged me to embark on the most crazy and exciting adventure i could imagine… thank you babe - i sooo love you!!!